I don’t know about you, but it feels like everywhere I go at the moment someone is creating a new juice or mocktail, and all of a sudden there seems to be this trend for flavoured waters. It’s great coming into summer that we have so many choices for what to drink, but are all these drinks really created equally?

My thoughts on bottled juices and flavoured waters
A lot of these new bottled flavoured waters and store bought smoothies are usually quite high in sugar and if you’re trying to be healthy it can be frustrating to find that the citrus flavoured water you thought you were drinking is really as full of calories as a can of cola.

Anything you make at home yourself is guaranteed to be fresher and tastier, and its a hell of a lot healthier for you. But do we always have the time to make everything at home ourselves? Sure, sometimes it’s too hard to do it ourselves, but in the case of a fresh and fruity drink, it often takes seconds in a blender or one of those new fancy smoothie makers (you know, the ones where you can blend everything into the container that then becomes the cup you take on the road with you).

So in order to make some really yummy and fresh drinks, without the fuss, I’ve found some recipes that you can try at home over the summer. These are great for making in large jugs and pitchers and serving at holiday gatherings or just when friends come over. They’re also really nice to just make for yourself on a hot day when you’re lazing around at home (maybe by the pool if you’re lucky enough to own a pool).

Using mint in summer drinks

All the recipes I’ve included here use mint in some form and I’ve done this by design. It can be hard to know what to do with the leftover mint you bought to put into a single meal so that’s why I’ve included it here. If you’re like me and don’t use fresh mint often here are plenty of drink ideas to use up that mint before it goes bad.

A word of caution when using mint – it is a fairly strong flavoured herb when you use the fresh herb, so go easy on the mint if you’re new to it, and only start adding a lot once you know you love it.

Summer drinks use mint a lot, so it really is the perfect way to combine summer and mint together.

Seeing as it’s the holidays, now is the time to try a few new drinks, and what better way to do that than with some summer fruits and fresh mint? And why not take this opportunity to share a few refreshing drinks with friends rather than popping a can of cola – who knows, you just might find something incredible.